the Big Mattress - Freeform Interactive Radio on the Net

"There are three words in the English language that end in GRY. Two are HUNGRY and ANGRY. The third one everyone uses every day and knows what it stands for. If you listened carefully, I already told you what the word is."

So, why then does this riddle continue to mystify even the hardiest puzzle-solvers? Simple!
It's because the riddle itself is almost always asked INCORRECTLY! The way this famous riddle is usually told, there IS no way to answer correctly, because there is no third word ending in gry! If anyone starts to ask you this riddle by saying, "there are three words in the English language that end in "gry" stop them immediately - they are wrong.


The way the riddle should be asked is the way we asked it originally. That is the correct way, and the ONLY way to ask it:

"Think of words ending in -GRY. Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is."

It's a deceptive question, because the first two sentences have NOTHING to do with the actual riddle. Start off with the third sentence, and the riddle is then solvable. Here is the solution:


"There are three words in the English language. What is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day.":


Word #1 = the
Word #2 = English
Word #3 = language

"language" is the third word.

Therefore, the answer is "language"
("language", being word #3, is a word you use every day)

Finally, we can all rest easier now.